10 Not So Known Ways To Save For Christmas – Especially #3 and #5

Now that the pumpkin carving is done, Thanksgiving is only a couple of days away for the US folks, along with Black Friday.

What’s next? Christmas! Yay (and that means more spending).

After reading a few posts about preparing for Christmas, I thought maybe I’ll start writing about the holidays as well. After all, Christmas is about a month away, so why not? On top of that, we all know that Christmas can get really expensive with gifts, travel, food, and decor.

According to American Research Group, shoppers say they plan to spend an average of $983 for gifts this year. That’s up by $54 compared to $929 last year, and that’s just gifts alone. With other expenses added, you’ll want to plan ahead. Not only will this help reduce your spending, it will also save you from a credit card hangover for the months to come.

Here’s what you can do to financially prepare for your holidays.

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1. Avoid budgeting in your head.

I hate that B word, and I couldn’t stand making it my headline haha. But we can’t avoid it. So yes, preparing a budget on paper will help.

I can totally see myself overspending without realizing because it’s the festive season! Generally speaking, we’re all feeling extra generous during the Christmas holiday, right?

While being generous is great, we still want to avoid financial burnout after the holidays.

My recommended approach is to make a list of all the people you will buy for. Along with your close family and friends, don’t forget to include your co-workers, teachers, neighbors, acquaintances, and even your dog! Yes, I know a few people who buy gifts for their pets. Heh, after all, they’re still your bestie.

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Lastly, don’t forget to include your gift donations as well!

Next, you’ll want to write down a realistic budget and allocate an amount to each person. The best approach is to give yourself a good cushion. In other words, avoid setting a budget that is too low because you’ll likely go nuts and overspend. More often than not, that might lead you to give up on your budget. As a result, you’ll end up spending blindly. Not good.

2. Don’t fall victim to retailers’ “sales” and “promos”

It’s the holiday season and retailers have the highest traffic and sales during this time of the year. With that said, it’s the best time for them to crank up Brenda Lee’s “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree” 🎵 and flaunt their so-called “once-in-a-lifetime” deals – just to get you to spend.

“Buy one get one free!” – free?? who doesn’t like free? (although that’s really just 50% off each item, so no… nothin’ was for free, guys!)

For those who don’t know, behavioraleconomics.com explains that “anchoring is a particular form of priming effect whereby initial exposure to a number serves as a reference point and influences subsequent judgments about value. The process usually occurs without our awareness (Tversky & Kahneman, 1974).”

For example, when the “original price” is marked up to $300, and then crossed out to be “on sale” for $190, our mind is using $300 as the anchor (i.e. benchmark) price. In this case, $190 might have been the retailer’s true original price, but because they want you to think you scored a deal, they mark it up to $300.

In this article post “Bagged a bargain or been anchored?” Joseph Devlin says:

“Every time you buy an item “on sale”, you experience anchoring. The original price influences your expectations so the percent discount feels like a real bargain… And despite the fact that I have been teaching psychology for nearly 20 years, you’ve already heard how I fell for it.”

Despite how smart you are, you might just fall for it without realizing!

3. Watch out for this color.

Aside from the marketers’ anchoring strategy, did I mention which color is associated with spending more? No?

Well, it’s red!!!

It’s the festive holiday and you can’t avoid this color! It’s no wonder why those huge sale signs are fired up in red.That being said, be cautious of this color while you’re shopping for gifts. According to psychology professor, Kit Yarrow:

“Red means stop when you’re driving but in the retail world, it means “go.” It means “spend.”

So the next time you’re at the mall, keep that in mind.

That’s why I mentioned earlier that writing down a list with a realistic budget will help you focus only on the things you need to buy. Doing this will help you stay financially healthy for the holiday season.

4. Get paid to shop.

If you’re going to shop for the things you regularly shop for, then you may as well get rewarded for it!

For the most part, my BF and I would purchase everything on our rewards credit card to stack up a few hundred dollars by the end of the year.

On top of that, I would also combine it with Ebates to accumulate more. You can sign up for Ebates here for FREE and receive a welcome bonus of $10 (Walmart gift card or $10 in cash)! Seriously, Ebates is one of the BEST programs because it PAYS YOU to shop for things that you were already going to buy anyway. The best part is it’s 100% FREE to sign up for and use!!! Canada, sign up here for your $5 bonus.

But of course, I’m not encouraging you to spend more just to accumulate more “spavings” – a term I discovered on J. Money’s “My New ‘Spavings’ Fund!” post. Despite the results of Google search, I’ve never heard of this term until I read this post. Check it out – he definitely made it fun to read!

According to urban dictionary, it basically means spending to save, hence “spavings” haha! Or coined differently, J. Money called it fake savings. But needless to say, if you’re mindful of your spending, this is a great hack to save for the festive holiday without feeling burned out of cash.

5. Don’t let that music in the store lift your spirits up tooooo much.

“Rockin’ around the Christmas tree… at the Christmas party hop… Mistletoe hung where you can see………………” 🎵🎶

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Ah, okay… I’ll stop singing and dancing now!

Anyway, Christmas is around the corner and we’re all in that jolly festive mood that prompts us to spend (and maybe even splurge) more.

These songs remind us that it’s the time to laugh, give, and share, which is all fantastic! But sometimes we buy too much and go overboard.

According to this article by Nick Collins, he says Christmas music prompts consumers to spend more. In this article, he cites what Dr. Alan Bradshaw of Royal Holloway, University of London says:

“Festive jingles are force-fed to Christmas shoppers in a bid to change their mood, influence their sense of time and what sort of products they buy. In other words, this is an attempt to manipulate your shopping habits in a way that you might barely be aware of.”

Again, to avoid spending more, or even splurging, focus and refer back to your original list from point #1! You don’t want to see your net worth dwindle after the holidays!

6. Ask your buddy, Trim, to help you save money!

Now that the New Year is approaching, it’s never too late to use this free savings tool to help you get started with your financial goals.

7. Look for Christmas stuff at home.

Before you head out to shop, see if you have any leftover wrapping paper, gift boxes, and bags from last year. This saves you both money and the hassle.

Or alternatively, what I like to do is buy wrapping paper, gift boxes, and bags after Christmas is over. Generally, you can score 80% to 90% off during January which you can use for next Christmas.

One of my favorite stores to shop at is Michaels because they always have coupons and discounts on seasonal items. And nooooooooooooo, I’m not falling victim to points #2 and #3 – or am I? Hah, you get what I mean!

Overall, you will save money when you buy for next year! Just don’t go overboard.

8. Earn more for the holidays.

Earning more during the Christmas holiday will provide you with more wiggle room to work with. Despite my lower salary, I am a big believer in increasing your earnings! Again, I always have to mention this point: you can only save so much, but the sky is the limit with earnings.

I did this last November and got back $370 for the month. To give you some ideas, I sold several lightly-used items last year:

Coach leather gloves

$ 50.00

Michael Kors handbag

$ 70.00

5 thick hoodies

$ 50.00

Running shoes

$ 40.00

Perfume

$ 100.00

Peacoat

$ 60.00

I received some of those as gifts more than three years ago, which I never used. Instead of having it collect dust, I just sold them because I figured that someone would appreciate them more than me.

Need more ideas? Here are some things you can consider selling that will give you some extra cash to spend during the holiday!

– Old but working appliances (some people buy these for their rental properties) – Used furniture (if you want a higher return, consider refurbishing it to add value) – Luxury handbags or watches that you don’t use – Gently used clothing, bags, belts, and shoes – Toys and baby accessories that your kids have outgrown – Electronics (your old iPhones, iPads, game consoles, stereo system, speakers, etc.) – Gift cards that you don’t use – Home décor (lamps, canvases, picture frames, old curtains, jewelry box, or any decorative pieces) – Tableware such as ceramic bowls, dishes, or cups – Car Tires – Scraped car parts – CDs, DVDs, and books

10. Donate your time and skills.

Who says the holiday is just about spending on gifts?

Alternatively, you can gift your time and skills.

For example, if you’re a handy person, you can offer your services to a family or friend instead of buying a gift for the sake of spending (TBH, they might not even use what you buy them). Instead, why not give them something that adds value to their life?

On top of that, if you’re crafty, you can consider gifting your hand-made products. This idea crossed my mind because I wanted to refurbish a piece of furniture for a family member or friend, but it doesn’t look like anyone needs anything at the moment. I don’t know anyone who just settled in a new place haha.

Consider giving and helping out if your profession involves cooking, baking, home staging, renovating, tutoring, massage and facial services, and many more!

Not only are you saving money (from not buying a gift), you’re also helping out the person from the other end.

Sit back, relax, and have fun!

Although it’s important to prepare financially for the holiday, don’t forget to have fun at the same time! I know it can get financially stressful with Christmas shopping, travel plans, festive activities, and many more. As long as you follow through with your plan along with the tips mentioned here, you’ll feel a lot less financially burned for 2019!

Over to you now – how do you think you’ll do financially this Christmas? What methods will you use this holiday to stay on track with your financial goals?

Great advice, there is a lot of marketing poured out at this time of year and it is meant to take your money – you don’t always need to be buying this stuff, its just out there to make you think you do. Consider this and stay strong especially throughout this time of year.

I often shop for myself after Christmas. Not that I don’t enjoy getting stuff for Christmas, I just enjoy getting more after Christmas.

As for spending, I think I often fall prey to the 60% off scheme. I hope most of the items that I bought for 60% off were actually on sale and not actually marked up to make it look like it’s on sale. Isn’t that illegal?

It would be very unethical for companies to do stuff like that, but it happens. I the linked an article below for you that talks about deceptive pricing from JC Penney, Sears, and Macy’s with a few examples.

At the end, a price is, well… just a price. At the end, it really depends on how you value the product, and whether you’re willing to pay $X amount for it. And of course, it’s recommended to do price comparisons, which I’m sure you already do in most cases.

“JC Penney began selling a maternity bathing suit top online for a “sale” price of $31.99, down from an “original” price of $46, according to one suit. That top was later marked down to $21.99 and then $14.99 — all the while compared to $46. However, it was never for sale at $46, the suit alleges. The highest price was $31.99.

High-ticket items were also subject to this kind of inaccurate pricing…. Sears eventually discounted the item down to $649.99 (from an “on sale price” of $999.99) while “falsely advertising a discount from the $1,179.99 false reference price (original price).”

This is not the first time that retailers have gotten in trouble for false reference pricing schemes.”

There was a period where I was addicted to selling stuff from home because it was actually bringing in some decent amount of cash that I would have never imagined. I asked myself “why did I even keep those things when I never use them??” lol…

This post is full of great tips to help anyone be prepared financially for the holidays. I love your tip about making a list of everyone you need to buy for. This is a great way to stay on budget. Thanks for including my article!

Awesome list, wasn’t aware about the red tag. Need to remember that when we go out shopping. I think a good suggestion for holiday shopping is be narrow-minded, focus on the things you need to buy and do not get distracted with the sale items that you don’t plan on getting. We like buying gifts at Michael’s too especially for kids because you can get them craft stuff that will bring out their creativity.

Hey Kris! Yup, totally agree with you about the narrow approach! I just spoke w/ many coworkers and they went crazy for the Black Friday and cyber Monday. One of them told me they even have a bunch of brand new clothes w/ tags from last year that was on amazing deal (got distracted w/ sales) but now their 2 or 3 year old out grew them lol.

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About Finsavvy Panda

Welcome to Finsavvy Panda!I love everything about saving, investing, earning, and building net worth. I’m all for flexibility and balance, so I’d love ❤ to help you do all of this without having to deprive yourself! Since Oct 2016, my boyfriend and I have been working towards freeing ourselves from corporate bullsh!t to become financially independent. If you want to hop on the happiness boat, come join us!